My journey to discover and promote my home town Brisbane as a great travel destination.
I was born and raised in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. I have travelled to many cities of the world and am always wanting to travel more.
Now it is time for this "city slicker" to discover her own city... :-)

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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

This Saturday the Brisbane Festival kicks off with the Golden Casket Light Sphere and Riverfire. The Sunsuper Riverfire fireworks will start at 7pm at South Bank Parklands, City and the Kangaroo Point Cliffs. Get there early for great views and pack a picnic so you don’t have to leave.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

On Sunday 28 August I went to the Bulimba Festival, I was joined by my sister in-law Ruvay. We travelled by train from Narangba to Central, then walked to Eagle Street Pier to board a City Cat Ferry to Bulimba (1hr20mins). The trip on the Ferry was great on our way to Bulimba (it was a lovely sunny day).

It was a short walk up Oxford Street to find the market marquees and the live band. We headed straight to Mugged for a coffee. I have to say with regret that my espresso tasted like someone squeezed lemon juice into it (maybe it was an “off” day for them, I will return to test it again), Ruvay said her Latte was great!

There were many food stalls from the local cafes and restaurants and heaps of local stores had stalls there as well. We ran into a friend there, Sharissa from Love, Marriage, Baby Carriage.

After a few hours of walking in the heat and crowds Ruvay and I decided to go back into Town to get something to eat. We hopped on the City Cat and headed back to Eagle St Pier… not such a smooth ride back this time (bit green faced).

We ended up in David Jones trying on $1700 shoes for a little pick me up… made my day . After some retail therapy and tummies grumbling we walked across Victoria Bridge to Southbank and enjoyed Filo’s and salad.

I introduced Ruvay to Max Brenner's Chocolate shop, unfortunately the line up to buy anything was so long we gave up.

We found a lovely place to sit and rest while we waited for our wonderful husbands to come and pick us up on their way home from the Family Farm.

There are so many Festivals on this time of year head out to one near by or head to a part of town you haven’t been to in a while and rediscover Brisbane.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Last Friday night I participated in the BrisStyle Twilight Markets at King George Square in Brisbane City. I have my own handmade business Maleena Eve Designs and I make home decor items to sell there.

My sister in-law Ruvay and I decided to go back to the Story Bridge to take photo’s of it at night.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

As this week is Mercedes Fashion Week I decided I would advertise the wonderful idea of Fashion Flashes.

Starting today 22 August to 26 August at 12 (lunch time) everyday there is going to be gorgeous models wearing different fashions from stores in Brisbane City. They will be carrying balloons to grab your attention and walking up Queen Street Mall modeling the great outfits.

After you have seen and been inspired by the fashion shows you can head to the City’s fashion precincts for a wardrobe refresh. With high-end designers on Edward St, boutique fashion on Elizabeth St, youthful designers on Adelaide St and leading brands on the Queen St Mall.

Monday, August 15, 2011

This weekend I spent a day with my sister in-law Ruvay in Fortitude Valley (the valley to the locals). We scored a great car park on McLachlan Street and headed down to Spoon Cafe for my black coffee and Ruvay’s half strength flat white (hehe from me). Then we wandered down James Street looking for something interesting. I had read about some new shops going into one of the alleyways off one of the Streets. We walked and walked… ran into some very drunk young men (11am) who wanted us to take their photo…turned a corner and another corner and found ourselves outside our favourite dance haunt The Bank. We headed down Ann Street past the Bowery and found an amazing little rockabilly store Tiger Rag. Then I gave in and text my cousin in-law Liz to ask her where to go. I followed her instructions and we found ourselves on Winn Street, where we found a little alleyway coming off it.

The Flamingo Cafe and The Outpost are at the entrance to the alleyway. I was happy to find the Flamingo because an old friend of mine had mentioned it to me a few weeks ago. They serve sausage rolls with pumpkin jam and all these other great things. The Outpost sells the brand Pass Port that my friends son works on.

Here is Ruvay setting up her camera. We went into Sunday Social a great little shop full of vintage goodness.

Next door was Little Jane St with fantastic books about art and craft and all things paper.

After lots of window shopping and antiquing we headed to New Farm Park for lunch. After a wonderful “Coles” Greek salad, brie & quince paste on water crackers and fresh strawberries with the view of the Brisbane river we went to Powerhouse for a hot cuppa (it started to rain and we were cold ).

On our way home we stopped to take some photos of Brisbane’s famous Story Bridge.

I had a fantastic day out with my sister in-law discovering a part of Brisbane I haven’t seen in quite some time. There are so many new shops and really great vintage/handmade stores. I love that they have started to utilise the alleyways in Brisbane (like Melbourne).

If you have time while the weather is great and not too hot why not head out with your loved ones for a day out in Fortitude Valley or New Farm Park.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

When I walk around the city of Brisbane I find myself drawn to the architecture (Interior design background). As you may have noticed in the photos, my eye and camera are drawn to one building in particular.

That building is the Suncorp building and below it is the Brisbane City Council Library (what I call the coloured lego blocks). The reason behind my obsession in the building??? Probably the fact that it is so square and has sharp straight lines. Or the fact that it is shiny and black with little pops of colour. It also has a great way of air conditioning, the pipes running down one side of it actually get water from the river and some how assist in the cooling process. As you can see I do not know the technical side of it. :-)

I would love to be able to go inside some of my favorite buildings in Brisbane to photograph the designer furnishings they have. The Suncorp building has the most amazing modern furniture and furnishings…imagine being in SPACE furniture all day… it is just like that, but with a few less pieces.

Walking along the Brisbane River is really beautiful, especially in front of the GOMA building (Gallery of Modern Art). And as you cross the Kurilpa Bridge you get a great view of the William Jolly Bridge.

It is such a wonderful time of year to get out and about in Brisbane, enjoying the sun without the heat.